Opener Lab
SLANE vs WHIRL
See which word leaves you with the easier game.
These game-length figures come from the previous complete opener benchmark against its 2,354-answer snapshot, ranked by average guesses among games solved within six. Its answer snapshot and continuation policy are separate from today's solver recommendations.
The same solver played from both openers. SLANE has the lower average in games solved within six: 3.54 guesses to 3.69 for WHIRL.
Looking only at the opening row, SLANE has higher entropy (5.77 bits versus 4.50). That describes first-guess separation, not the full solve on its own.
| Metric | SLANE | WHIRL |
|---|---|---|
| Elimination | 96.8% | 91.6% |
| Information | 5.77 bits | 4.50 bits |
| Avg remaining | 76 words | 198 words |
| Avg turns | 3.54 | 3.69 |
| Win rate | 99.9% | 100.0% |
| Tier | A | C |
What to expect from the first guess
| Outcome | SLANE | WHIRL |
|---|---|---|
| First-turn solve* | 0% | 0.04% |
| At least one green | 46.3% | 29.2% |
| Any green or yellow | 90.0% | 81.1% |
| Whole row gray | 10.0% | 18.9% |
| Worst case answers left | 235 | 446 |
*Treating every word in the possible-answer list as equally likely.
A fully gray row is rarer with SLANE: it happens 10.0% of the time, against 18.9% for WHIRL.
SLANE is not on the possible-answer list, so it cannot solve the game on turn one here. It can still be a useful guess.
How these two openers fit together
SLANE and WHIRL overlap on a single letter (L), so the pair tests 9 different letters between them.
Played back to back, SLANE then WHIRL earns 8.54 bits of information in total, 2.78 bits more than the better word manages alone.
Past Wordle answers
- SLANE: Has not been a past Wordle answer in this site's history.
- WHIRL: Answer to the puzzle on July 12, 2023.